Ariel Sharon 1928-2014

Ariel Sharon

Israeli general Ariel
Sharon stands on the right bank of the Suez Canal in January 1974, just a few
days before leaving the army to become a right-wing politician.

A maverick both in
war and in politics, and a divisive figure in his homeland, Sharon was a commander
in the army since the birth of Israel in 1948, and later the prime minister who
would pull out of Gaza.

Famously overweight,
he suffered a stroke that put him into a coma in 2006, when he was at the
height of his power. He died on Saturday, January 11, 2014, without ever
apparently regained consciousness.

Credit: STF/AFP/Getty Images

1955

Sharon was born to
Russian immigrant parents on Feb. 26, 1928, in the small farming community of
Kfar Malal, north of Tel Aviv. He joined the Haganah, the pre-state Jewish
defense force, at 14 and later went on to command an infantry platoon during
the 1948 Mideast war over Israel's creation. He was seriously wounded in battle
with the Jordanian Legion over control of the road to Jerusalem.

By 1953 he was
commanding Unit 101, a commando force formed to carry out reprisals for Arab
attacks.

Credit: AP

1955

In 1956 Sharon was
rebuked for engaging in what his commanders regarded as an unnecessary battle
with Egyptian forces in which some 30 Israeli soldiers died. But he was also
praised for military successes, such as his daring assault across the Suez
Canal during the 1973 Mideast War.

Credit: AP/Israeli Defense Ministry

1966

Israeli army colonel Ariel Sharon, Feb. 16, 1966.

Credit: Moshe Pridan/GPO/Reuters

1967

Maj. Gen. Ariel Sharon is shown May 29, 1967, shortly before the 1967 Middle East War.

Credit: AP

1967

Brig. Gen. Ariel Sharon, foreground left, stands with then-Israeli Minister without Portfolio Menachem Begin, on the Southern Front of the Six Day war in the Sinai Desert, June 16, 1967.

1996

1998

Israeli Foreign Minister-designate Ariel Sharon takes a ride on a mini-tractor on his ranch in southern Israel with his wife Lily and one of his grandchildren, Oct. 9, 1998.

Credit: Reuters

1998

U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright speaks to reporters as Israeli Foreign Minister Ariel Sharon looks on during a press conference at the State Department in Washington, D.C., December 7, 1998. The two discussed the current Middle East situation and President Bill Clinton's upcoming trip to Gaza during breakfast meetings.

Credit: LUKE FRAZZA/AFP/Getty Images

1998

Israeli Defense Minister Ariel Sharon (left) reviews a map of Israel and the West Bank with Texas Governor George Bush, before boarding a helicopter at Ben Gurion Airport for a overview flight to the north over Israel and the West Bank, Dec. 1, 1998.

Credit: Reuters

1998

Israeli Defense Minister Ariel Sharon (right) in a helicopter as he escorts Texas Governor George Bush (left) and Governor Mike Leavitt of Utah on a tour over Israel and the West Bank territories, Dec. 1, 1998.

Credit: Reuters

2001

Ariel Sharon, then Israel's Prime Minister-elect, looks up as he touches Judaism's holiest site, the Western Wall, in Jerusalem Feb. 7, 2001.

Credit: David Guttenfelder/AP

2001

President George W. Bush meets with Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon March 20, 2001 in the Oval Office at the White House in Washington, D.C. Sharon was on his first trip to the United States as Israel's prime minister.

2005

2001

Israeli right-wing opposition leader Ariel Sharon is pictured at the
Likud Party headquarters in Tel Aviv in January 2001, just days before his
election as prime minister.

The life and career of the man Israelis called "Arik" will be
remembered for its three distinct stages: his eventful and controversial time
in uniform, his years as a vociferous political operator who helped create
Israel's settlement movement and mastermind of the Lebanon invasion, then his
successful term as a pragmatist prime minister, capped by a dramatic withdrawal
from the Gaza Strip and curtailed at the height of his popularity by his sudden
stroke.